Director quits Freddie Mercury biopic

A long-awaited Freddie Mercury biopic has stalled again after actor-turned-director Dexter Fletcher walked away from the project, citing creative differences.

“Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” star Fletcher signed on to bring the tragic Queen rocker’s life story to the big screen in December, with Skyfall actor Ben Whishaw stepping in to replace Sacha Baron Cohen as the flamboyant frontman.

But after just three months, work on the coming-of-age movie has been put on hold again after the filmmaker clashed with producer Graham King, according to Deadline.com. The pair reportedly failed to see eye-to-eye on the direction of the project.

Ironically, Cohen also blamed “creative differences” for his departure from the biopic last summer.

A replacement for Fletcher has yet to be announced, but producers are still hoping to start shooting this summer.

Surviving Queen members Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon will serve as co-producers on the highly-anticipated Mercury film, which was originally scheduled for release in 2012.